


A Grey Birthday

by Meynara



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, F/M, Lots of Angst, Soulmate AU, but not really?, teacher/student relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8569684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meynara/pseuds/Meynara
Summary: Rin's nineteenth birthday brings with it revelations of the heart.





	

In their world, as children men and women alike saw the world in color, bright and vivid and beautiful. Even with all the deaths, all the killing that came with being a shinobi, they learned to _treasure_ the colors, knowing that they would eventually recede, leaving them in a world of black and white and shades of grey.

Of course, there was one way that this could be reversed – by finding the person they were meant to live their lives with, by finding the other half of their soul so to speak. Naturally, there were people who didn't react to such things, who would follow their _hearts_ rather than waiting for their chosen partner. There was always the chance you would never meet, after all, or that it would be so _brief_ as to be non-existent.

Rin Nohara, a bright young woman now well into young adulthood, was an outlier. While her friends had lamented that they had lost colors in their world ~~(or coolly stated it as Kakashi was prone to doing)~~ , she...had not. Everything was still bright and colorful as it had been when she was a child, when she was a genin, and she couldn't figure out why.

“Rin...” A soft voice called from outside the office the chunin occupied in the hospital, silver hair popping in through the door. She wasn't in charge by any means, but she had her own space to work in, and today she would be grateful for it. While still masked, Kakashi Hatake was obviously an attractive young man – if less than cheerful most of the time – and her coworkers were often jealous that the jonin visited her. In his hands were a container of strawberries and a small scroll.

“Kakashi, hey, what brings you here today?” Eyes looked him over, checking for wounds – relieved when she found none – before looking up to his face curiously. While he would visit from time to time, typically there was a reason: even if it was just passing a message on for someone.

“Happy birthday, Rin-chan,” he gave a sort of eye-smile, looking almost forced in reality as he moved to her desk, setting down the box of strawberries and the scroll, eye opening to watch her carefully. “I brought you strawberries, and...the scroll is from sensei.”

The brunette froze. “Sensei...?” She lost no time in opening the scroll. Instead of words written inside, however, there was a seal. One of the things their sensei had been known for, something that hadn't been passed on to any of his students. However, even not knowing much about seals, it was obvious to her that this one required a prick of blood. And if it had been left for her...

“Stand back,” she said softly, determined, before taking a kunai and pricking her thumb, letting a drop of dark red blood fall onto the scroll. There was a flash, and rather than something appearing as would be expected...

...Rin slumped back, leaving Kakashi alone with her unconscious body.

* * *

 

“Rin....Rin, wake up...”

The medic's head was fuzzy, feeling almost as if she were floating on air, hearing a comforting voice that made her want to answer, want to see who it was, so she opened her eyes, trying to sit up only to find she was already standing. She found herself in a strange place, something that could only be described as nothingness – only she _wasn't_ **_alone_**.

Standing there with her, looking as he had many years ago when they first met, was Minato Namikaze. Rin's eyes lit up and she ran over to him, grinning and giving the man a hug as he laughed. She was closer to his height than she remembered being – she could actually reach up to touch the top of his head now if she wanted!

“Hello, Rin-chan. Long time no see, mm?”

Had it been a long time? She couldn't remember, but something told her it really _had_ been a long time. Why was that? She shook her head, chasing those thoughts away as she enjoyed being with her sensei once again. Former sensei.

“You're so _silly_ , Minato-sensei,” she laughed, feeling her face heat up. Had it done that before?

“Aah, I know, I know,” he grinned, not letting go of the young woman. “How is the birthday girl today?”

Birthday? That's right it was her birthday! “It's – I'm good. Did you get me a present?” she teased, grinning up at him. “Obito didn't tell you to pretend to _forget_ this year!”

He laughed – a rich, pleasant sound, one that she surely would never tire of as long as she lived – and why did that thought fill her with such _sadness_?

“I'm afraid _I'm_ the only thing I have for you this year, Rin-chan.” There was a hint of sadness in his gaze, but she didn't see – didn't want to see, didn't want to think about it. He released his hold on her only to gently grab her chin, tilting it upwards. “Tell me, are you happy? Right _now_ , are you **_happy_**?”

There was no thinking needed. “Of _course_ I am! Why wouldn't I be?” She couldn't think of why she'd be unhappy, it was her birthday, she was with _Minato_ – wait, was he **crying**? Those were tears, but he was smiling, what was wrong with him? “Minato-sen--”

He was still crying, but now his lips were on hers, cutting off what she was going to say, what she was going to ask. Surprise flared in her mind before it was replaced with a sense of rightness. _This_ was right, **_he_ ** was right, _they_ were right, **together**. And there was something very _tragic_ about that.

Pulling back after a long moment, Minato smiled down at her. He still looked sad, but... “That's a relief. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, Rin. I wish there was something I could do...”

“No, no, it's okay...Minato.” It felt odd, _wrong_ even to call this man sensei. In her heart, it clicked even if it _hadn't_ in her mind yet.

“Just _promise_ me, you'll try to be happy. Find someone to make you happy.” Even though she had only just arrived, only just awoken, Rin could feel everything going fuzzy once more – as if her time here was gone. “Bring color to someone's life like you did my own.”

As everything returned to darkness, her heart _**broke**_.

* * *

 

“Rin!”

“H-huh?!” Sitting up quickly, Rin found herself in her office once more, the scroll now nothing more than a simple piece of parchment, with Kakashi looking over her, worried. “I – I'm okay, I'm okay, what happened?” Her thoughts were a jumble, almost as if there was a little cloud of bittersweet emotion fogging everything over.

“You opened the scroll from sensei, and just, collapsed. Are you sure you're alright?” Now that Rin was awake once again, the almost panic that the jonin had fallen into seemed to dissipate.

“Sensei? Oh – yes. I'm...fine. I think I'm just tired.” Her voice was soft, fingers reaching up to brush against her lips as realization finally, finally reached her mind.

**_Her soulmate was dead._ **

And with that realization, the bright vivid colors she had known her entire life quickly faded away, tears slowly streaming down her face.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so before I get anyone freaking out because Minato loved Kushina...
> 
> I'm not saying that he didn't. There are people (at least within my mind for this AU) that will pretty much go 'forget finding a soulmate I love this person' and will be with that person. That is how Minato and Kushina were. They didn't NEED some mystical tie together to know their feelings for one another.
> 
> But while he never acted, he knew that Rin was the one who was 'destined' for him. And he knew, as Hokage, it was likely he would die, so he left something for her, something with a bit of him inside.


End file.
